One Hundred Moments and One Ghost
by To the Redwoods
Summary: When her family moved from San Francisco to Amity Park, Petra finds her self having to adjust to self proclaimed most haunted city in America. School drops her into the company of a mysterious pale boy with pale blue eyes. Rumors of a ghostly super hero pull her out into the night and electric green eyes keep her in the cemetery for too long. Everything unravels fast after that.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Hi my name is emily and I love oc's, and also ive been in love with danny phantom since i was about 13. its nice to meet everyone and im sorry in advance. i write self indulgent nonsense to satisfy myself. This is 27 pages in a word document so i guess its time to post it, im trying that like 3 decade old 100 theme challenge everyone was doing in like 2013. oops. welcome to oc hell and also im sorry._

* * *

1: 'Introductions':

"So uh, you're new here huh?"

The comment came out as a question of the boy who had been chosen by the principal of Casper High to show Petra around. She looked up from her bright red fingernails to the boy with a smile. It was an obvious question. She was new. Her family had moved from the west coast, and she had showed up to the little High School in Minnesota in a pair of leggings and an over-sized army jacket thinking she would blend into the scenery. She had been wrong. With the olive green jacket hanging casually off her shoulder, she had walked into the front office and immediately became the center of attention. The small town seemed to be stuck in a limbo and though she had entered the office quietly, she stuck out more than she had ever intended.

"Er, are you Petra? We've been expecting you. Wait here and we'll call someone to show you around okay?" The secretary looked up from the computer at her desk and peered over her glasses at the girl.

And so, sitting alone in the front office of a new school, is how she had met her guide for the day. He was pale, with a shock of dark messy hair and the palest blue eyes she had ever seen. She stood and waved quickly. Immediately she noticed a presence about him, but it slipped by when he smiled awkwardly and ran his hands through his hair. The principal handed him her schedule and the locker number and combination before he had opened the door for her and lead her into the hallway.

They hadn't made it far. In fact they had stopped at her locker and she leaned up next to him against the cool steel. She gave him a half smile as he tried to back track out of the obvious question he had blurted out when they stopped. Her thin nervous hands pulled her dark brown braid over her shoulder before nodding to the locker he was struggling to open for her. In one hand he held the combination on a little piece of paper and with the other he was twirling the lock. He turned to her with an incredulous look when she laughed at his question again.

"I can't open my locker, I have a guide for the day and I'm holding a map of a school with one building. All signs point too yes, wouldn't you agree?" Her voice was teasing and quiet. "Mr. Danny Fenton."

"Yeah stupid question, I get it thank you." He rolled his pale blue eyes but there was a smile on his face. "You know, I could leave you on your own and you would have no idea how to get around." His voice was light and he narrowed his gaze at her. "You would be lost without me. You better be thankful I'm here at all. Being seen with a new kid is social suicide, after all."

Petra decided she liked this boy. He was easy to talk to and was obviously keen on sarcasm. "Social suicide? I'm the most stylish person this school has ever seen. But, I doubt one day with me will hurt your chances to get back in with the popular kids." She paused and he laughed again. "Also I do have a map, you know. I think I might manage alone."

The locker popped open and he grinned. "You might be able to, but I still have your schedule."

The brunette feigned hurt before she giggled. "Well then, Mr. Fenton, it would appear you have to suffer through this day of social suicide. It seems you're stuck with me." She said with a dramatic tone that made him laugh again as he set the books she wouldn't be using into her locker for her. "Would you be so kind to direct me to my first classroom?" She held out a hand to the hallway. Her ringed fingers wiggled at the packed space, where students waited for the bell to ring and talked quietly in small groups.

He blinked a few times before a grin lit his face. "Oh my mistake. Please come with me." They took a few steps down the hall before he cleared his throat and the teasing sarcastic tone slipped a little bit. "You know, its kinda nice having someone new around here though. It seems like we've all known each other forever, a new face is nice. Someone who doesn't know everything about this place and everyone you know? Anwyay.. Your first class today is… Science. Which is this way.."

The day dragged by slower than the freckled brunette could have ever imagined. Classes on classes on classes. Each time she was put in front of the entire class of strangers and she introduced herself over and over and over before settling in the back of the classroom and having people stare at her on and off for the next fifty or so minutes. Somehow Danny found her outside of each of her classrooms. He would always be leaning against the wall just outside the door, with his fingers fidgeting nervously with his schedule and his pale eyes watching the hallway. He held out a copy of her schedule before he would escort her through the halls to the next class of the day.

"You beat me out again Danny." She ran her hands through her bangs. "You must leave class early every time."

"No you just have to stick around extra for all those books."

"Touche." She muttered as he took the pile of text books from her. "Thanks. I'm getting tired."

"Almost done. Then we get to do it all tomorrow. Come on, let's stop off at your locker and there's some good news. Looks like, we'll have at least one class together." He grinned, waving the tiny piece of paper in the air. "

"I can't wait. And what class might be, Mr. Fenton?" She snatched it from him. Interaction had grown natural in the matter of a couple of hours, she was grateful for the lapse in the awkward stage between acquaintance and friend. She squinted at the crumpled paper he had been fidgeting with all day.

"English." He said, rather anticlimactically.

"Well lead the way then."

* * *

2\. '67%':

A week had passed since Petra had transferred into Casper High school. She had settled into a somewhat normal routine. Danny the pale boy with the pale eyes, had invited her to sit with him and his friends on that first day for lunch. She was grateful, but told him it wasn't necessary. He insisted and she had been nervous but he had promised her that his friends were sort of losers and she would fit right in. The almost insult had immediately eased the tension and she laughed as they walked into the lunchroom with her bag lunch clutched in nervous hands.

"Always with the sarcasm." She had bumped his hip with a friendly laugh.

"Sarcasm sure." He held out a hand towards the table where his friends sat at the back corner of the lunchroom. "That's something I'm really good at."

The boy's friends were nice. Petra wasn't sure what to make of them when she had first sat down and introduced herself. Sam, a goth straight out of an after school special from 1997 had deadpan stared at her and hardly said anything when she sat down and introduced herself. And Tucker was techno geek who was overly confident, had immediately tried to flirt with her, which Danny shut down fairly immediately before he sat down next to her on the opposite side of the table as the other tow. After a few awkward minutes, she decided she liked them enough. They were nice and Sam was clever and easy to talk to after she warmed up a little bit and Tucker was charismatic and funny. Petra usually caught up on reading during lunch regardless, so having a small group of friends to sit with was only a nice perk. She noticed quickly though sitting with the group that weren't quite the nerds and weren't quite the jocks earned her a shift in social hierarchy. The sporty cheerleaders mostly ignored her after she sat down that day and the jocks started whispering among themselves. She was still the weird new kid too, so to have settled into a group made her the topic of discussion she assumed.

It was a Wednesday, exactly a week and a day since she had moved to Amity Park. She had sat down before Danny was there, it was weird that he wasn't there to meet her outside of her math class which had become the norm but she was able to find herself to her locker and then to the lunchroom without incident so she was sure Danny would be proud. However, sitting down before he was there meant a somewhat awkward silence with Tucker who was playing a game on his PDA. The normal amount of chatter whenever the new kid entered a room rippled around the lunchroom as she slipped into the seat beside him, wishing that Danny had been there with her so she didn't hear the ripple of gossip about her that had hushed the lunchroom. She pulled out her English homework, a highlighter and her bag lunch and gave him a friendly smile.

"So, uh. Where did you move from again?" Tucker asked after a long moment.

Her lips found the bright yellow straw of the Capri Sun she had pulled out of her lunch-bag. "California. San Francisco." She set her chin in her hand. "Ever been?"

"Nah. Never really left the area before." He eyed her through his thick rimmed glasses. "Your family dragged out here huh? It's different here then a lot of places. Far from home too. Do you, uh, like it out here or is it pretty bad?"

"Yeah my dad's foreman for construction stuff. He got moved out here for land development of something." Petra tucked the highlighter behind her ear and turned her full attention to the boy, her friend she guessed. She shrugged in a half answer to his question. "It's okay I guess. I miss home, there's a completely different vibe out here. I don't know exactly what to think of it yet. But how is this place different exactly?"

Tucker shrugged. "Haven't you heard? This is the most Haunted city in America. Ghosts and monsters and stuff pop up here all the time." He paused as she scoffed at him. "Laugh all you want. When you see one than you'll be running back here telling me how wrong you are. You know, we have a superhero here too." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

She hesitated. "Amity Park has a superhero?"

" _Tucker_." Sam hissed before he had the chance to continue. She cut him off when she dropped her lunch tray on the table beside him. Her salad bounced and a tomato rolled off the plate. "We don't talk about that. You should know better than that. If he wanted her to know he would have told her by now."

"What _Sam_." He mimicked her tone. "I was just telling her the kind of stuff that happens around here. There's nothing wrong with that. Besides she's gonna see him eventually anyway. Don't see the harm in telling her he exists."

"Oh sure ghosts and monsters and superheroes? Why didn't I think of it before. I totally believe you" Petra took another drink of her juice. "Whatever you say."

Sam gave her a strange look. "You haven't heard about any of that stuff yet?"

"Why, it's not true is it?"

Sam's expression changed minutely. She had been sure Tucker was lying but the way Sam never joked about anything nearly made her force the goth to tell her everything she knew. But, before Petra could ask any more questions Danny appeared at her side and sank into the cold bench with a half groan, half sigh. He looked even paler than usual, with heavy deep circles under his eyes. Like he hadn't slept at all the night before. He raked his hands through his messy hair before he gave them all a smile and leaned his chin into his palms.

"Oh man, are you okay? You look really tired Danny." She muttered and set a hand on his arm.

"Yeah, yeah.. I guess I probably do. It was a long night. I'm running at roughly 67% right now." He jumped a little at the contact then waved her away. He stole a glance at Tucker and Sam, who both cringed. She didn't miss the steely look that passed over his eyes.

"Okay. If you say so." She turned her attention back to homework and returned the Caprisun to her mouth.

"I, er, just meant I don't sleep a lot. Don't worry about me." Danny piped in after an awkward moment of silence. He set a hand on her shoulder when the pair sitting across the table cringed a second time. "I promise. I just don't sleep a lot. That's all it is."

"I won't worry then." Petra didn't look up from her reading.

* * *

3\. "Obsession":

Petra had finally finished unpacking all the books and clutter into her room. It had been almost a month since her family's move into Amity Park. She was getting the weirdness now, weird monsters and the ghostly super hero who protected them in the middle of the night. It was enough to get her interested in the ins and outs of ghost hunting. She hadn't seen any of it personally but she was starting to hear stories about it all.

"These terrible shows don't look anything like the ghosts that I've heard about around here." She was telling her younger brother Carter.

"Mmhm." He said absentmindedly. The seventh grader was laying on her bed working on some homework and listening to her ramble about ghosts.

"They're more like monsters, really. And that superhero-"

"You mean the GhostKid?"

Petra spun around in her chair and gave her brother a curious look. "Is that what they call him?"

"Yeah haven't you asked your friends? Apparently he keeps the town safe. White hair, green eyes, all that shit. He flies and he can turn invisible. He's so badass. Everyone at school is obsessed with him."

"Language. They didn't want to talk about him but sure they mentioned him I guess." She didn't turn away from her computer screen as she typed in a new search to the bar. The search yielded some blurry pictures of the slim white haired boy. She tried to search more information but there just wasn't any. A bunch of random sightings and some crackpot theories about his identity. "Do your friends know anything else about him?"

Carter looked up. "What you gonna try and find him? I heard he sorta likes to lurk around the graveyard at night. Apparently ghosts like that kind of stuff."

"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not." She clicked around a bit longer before, without thinking twice bought an EVP detector from a hokey website. She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms across her chest. "Maybe I'm just crazy, but I might be buying into the ghost hunting nonsense."

Her brother paused for a minute, giving her some serious thought. "No you're crazy. Or maybe you want a chance with the GhostKid? All the girls at school want to hook up with him." He made a few kissing noises before collapsing back on her bed in a fit of giggles.

"Shut up. Do your homework."

* * *

4\. "Help":

Petra had a decent Friday at school. Her new friends were always easy to talk to but she still hadn't had the courage to ask them what else they knew about the ghost boy. It seemed like a taboo topic and Sam and Tucker always got shifty and awkward when she brought it up. She had been too embarrassed to tell them about her brand new EVP detector in her backpack. As usual, Danny walked her home after the final bell had rung. They waved bye to Tucker and Sam when they walked in the opposite direction they were both headed.

"So. It's good to see you're settling in nicely." He tucked his hands into his pockets and turned to her.

"Yeah I mean I guess you could say that." She looped her thumbs through the straps on her canvas backpack. "Getting curious about local lore, and struggling with homework. The usual stuff when you move to a new town. Haunted town. Whatever."

"Local lore?" He half cringed half smiled. A laugh slipped through the expression. "What exactly have you heard?"

"Sure the ghosts and stuff? I guess I didn't know how big those things were around here." She leaned a little closer to him and lowered her voice. She grabbed his shirt to stop him from walking. "Heard you guys have your very own superhero too. You didn't tell me any of that." She grinned.

The cringe got darker. "Oh you heard that too?"

"Sure my little brother told me. Apparently this ghost kid likes to hang out in the graveyard, isn't that spooky? Why didn't you tell me about the ghosts Danny? Didn't you know I'm totally into all those shitty ghost hunting shows?" She took one long step in front of him and stopped him again. His pale eyes met hers after a little roll. "I even bought one of those EVP detectors from one of those hokey websites. We should together,.. er. Do you want to go out ghost hunting with me? I mean I bet it's all bullshit anyway but we could hang out anyway. I mean that would be so much fun. Hanging out together. So what do you say? Will you help me?" She struggled to pull her backpack around in front of her chest. She pulled out the little detector and he glanced at it with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Can't we hangout somewhere other than a graveyard? You don't have to bribe me with ghost hunting to hang out. Besides I don't really buy into the whole ghost hunting stuff. My parents are.."

"Are?"

Danny started walking again. "Yeah, they're kinda paranormal scientists."

"No kidding? Why didn't you mention that before? I bet you're so sick of all of it."

"You really have no idea." He kept walking quickly and tried to change the subject but failed. "I don't, er I mean I didn't really believe in ghosts until there started being more ghost sightings in the area. It, yeah it gets old pretty fast when you grew up second to ghost science and you're hearing about it all the time every day. Ecto-blasters, and gadgets and the Ghost Zone. That's why I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to think I was weird."

"Too late." She winked up at him and he rolled his eyes.

"This one's you right?" Danny nodded over to the old brick house they had stopped in front of. "I'm just around the corner. The one with the big sign on it, Fenton Works." He mimed a sign in front of his face. "It's pretty hard to miss. You know, if you need anything.."

"Yeah I remember." She hopped up on the first step, but paused and spun back to face him. She wasn't quite ready to get back to her parents yet so she snagged his shirt again to keep him there. "Hey, so do your friends like me? Sometimes I feel like I'm intruding on you guys."

He pulled a weird face and ran a hand through his wild hair. He turned. "What kinda question is that? Of course they like you. Sure we've all been friends forever but you don't have to worry about intruding okay? I'll see you tomorrow okay?" He turned and started walking again.

Petra bit her lip before she called after him. "Hey so that's a maybe on the ghost hunting though right?"

He turned and laughed loudly. "Stay away from the ghosts! You hear me? I'm not kidding."

"Maybe you could make me."

He laughed again but didn't stop walking.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: back at it again with the 100 themes challenge. oh my goodness you guys, i am but a starving cosplayer busy dressing up like teenage boys and I appreciate the positive response from every one of you, who knew everyone loved being trapped in OC hell as much as me. Especially since I usually just post something to read myself and i dont hear anything from any readers ever omg this is so amazing haha... anyway ill post some more now. ask me about cosplay and well have a conversation about pain and alot of awkward teenage boys. thanks again guys youre all the best already._

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5\. "Family":

Dinner was always awkward in the Martin household. Petra didn't get along with her parents very well, and Carter was always on his phone to ignore the tension. She was planning to sneak out that night to go ghost hunting in the cemetery, and she was distractedly pushing the chicken and salad around her plate biding her time until she could slip out the back door.

"How's school going?" Dana, her mother's voice, was tight. It was always sort of tight and emotionless. Her and her mother had never really gotten along well. She was a severe woman, whose parents had also been severe. She had her dark hair cut in a short A-line bob and was usually always away where she worked at an office that dealt with insurance. "Tell us about the friends you've made."

"I've been in school for a month, it's weird you're just now asking." She muttered.

Her dad, John looked up quickly. Her and her dad usually got along a lot better than her and her mom, but he was gone a lot. He was a foreman for a construction company that had pulled them out to Amity Park to develop land in a town about four hours away for an apartment complex. "Please Petra, you could just answer her."

Even Carter looked up from his phone when she let out a short breath.

"Sorry. Yeah, I have a few friends. Tucker and Sam are really nice. We sit together at lunch and stuff-"

"Tell them about Danny Petra." Carter's sing-song teasing tone made her cringe.

"Carter." She hissed.

"There's a boy?" Her mom looked up from her plate. "And I thought you didn't like boys."

Her dad looked up at her too with a strange look in his eyes. She didn't get taken with boys often, and he knew that. He had a slight smile on his face and he chuckled. "What's the boy like sweetheart? How did you meet him."

"I met him at school. He's just.. He showed me around school on the first day and he invited me to sit with him and his friends. He's just my friend." She didn't look up from her plate. "His names Danny Fenton-"

"Fenton?" Dana looked to her sharply.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"You know, I heard from the ladies at work that that family is strange. I don't know how I feel about you hanging around him. I've heard the weirdest things about them. They don't sound sane and they have a terrible reputation around here.." She set her fork down and folded her hands together on the table in front of her. "His mother and father are some sort of fake ghost scientists or something, apparently ever couple of weeks they cause massive amounts of property damage fighting some made up ghost super hero. I don't buy into it. Not until I see it with my own eyes. That's what I think. It's all a bunch of nonsense." She paused. "Those poor kids though. Coming from such a strange family. Is he strange too? If I had known you were hanging around with someone like that I would have said something sooner."

"You didn't tell me his family hunted ghosts!" Carter turned to her excitedly.

Petra ignored her brother and instead narrowed her eyes at her mom. "I'm going to hang out with whoever I want to Mom. You can't control who I'm friends with at school." Her tone was challenging.

"Maybe you should invite him over and we can all talk about ghosts together. That sounds normal." Her mom's tone was equally as challenging.

She narrowed her eyes. "He doesn't like talking about ghosts."

"Oh imagine that." Her mom started eating again.

She clenched her hands into fists but didn't say anything.

Dana picked up her fork again. "His family doesn't sound like the type of people we need to be associated with. They sound dangerous and unpleasant. I don't know if I like the idea of you hanging around that Fenton boy."

She glanced at her dad, who shook his head but gave her a sincere smile before turning back to his food. Carter's eyes had turned back to his cell phone to avoid the awkward tension between Petra and their mom. He had listened to her talking about the strange boy with the blue eyes for the last month and he wasn't going to speak up now and make things worse. She huffed and stood.

"It's none of your business who I hang out with Mom. I'm not hungry anymore." She dropped her fork and marched up the stairs to her room. She heard Carter saying something to her mom before she slammed the door and collapsed on her bed with a loud groan. She hated dinner with her family.

* * *

6\. "Listen":

The sun went down and Petra decided she wasn't going to listen to Danny's advice. The mystery of the Ghost Kid at the cemetery was too much to keep her inside. Armed with her EVP detector, a backpack full of water and snacks and a can do attitude, she left her house at eleven on the dot. She was furious at her mother but she knew getting out into the cool night air would help cool her hot skin.

Out of habit her thumbs looped through the straps on her backpack and she marched a few blocks in the opposite direction of the school and towards the park and into the graveyard at the other edge of town. It was further away then she had remembered it being but distance did little to deter her confidence. The little machine started beeping as soon as she switched it in as she entered the old gate. She cast a wary look back over her shoulder as an eerie feeling rolled over her skin. She took a long shaking breath before she pressed on forward into the rows of old headstones. The brunette wasn't sure much about the history of Amity Park, but a lot of the dates carved into the stones were a lot older then she had expected certainly nothing recent.

With a certain level of resolve, Petra stopped at a particularly old headstone and held out her little beeping machine. Her dark mossy green eyes narrowed before they turned skyward with a long sigh.

"Okay. Can you hear me?" She said quietly. When nothing happened she cleared her throat and spoke a little louder. "I'm here to talk. I heard you were a superhero. Oh gosh I feel so dumb." She held up the machine and spun in a little circle on her toes. "I heard you help out the city and I thought I could help you out? No that's stupid. Do ghosts even need to talk to people? Me and my mom got into a fight. I don't to go home." Another long silence stretched on until she sank down to the grass. "C'mon, ghostboy. Please talk to me."

There was absolute silence in the graveyard, nothing but crickets and the sounds of the highway in the distance answered her. The EVP detector in her hands beeped at the same speed it had been beeping. No paranormal activity, no ectoplasmic energy, no ghostboy. She sighed and sat down in the soft grass beside the mossy headstone and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"This is so stupid. I don't know what I was thinking." The little device balanced on her knee and she sat still for what felt like an hour. Until she figured she should go home and until she was completely over whatever lingering rage she had at her mom. "Like ghosts need someone to talk to. This thing probably doesn't even work."

As Petra stood and dusted off her jeans a chill rolled over the graveyard. Goosebumps rippled over her arms and neck and her eyes scanned the area. Nothing. Nothing had changed. She clutched the EVP detector tighter in her shaking fingers as a strange silence settled over the grassy graveyard.

"I'm being crazy, there's no one here. I need to relax-"

A growl from behind her made her hair stand on end. Petra turned slowly and came face to face with a giant glowing beast, with its teeth barred and its fur splattered with a glowing green goo. They remained completely still for a moment before she screamed. Or started to scream. A hand covered her mouth to keep her quiet and stopped the sound before it left her mouth.

"Shh. He can only see movement and is super sensitive to sound. Keep still, keep your mouth shut." A voice said at her ear, echoing and whispery. "You shouldn't be out at night anyway what are you thinking? Isn't this is the kind of things guys usually warn girls about not doing?"

Petra looked back over her shoulder and met the glowing eyes of the boy who had appeared behind her. Electricity sparked in his gaze, giving his eyes an inhuman look that almost pierced through her soft mossy colored eyes. His white hair floated around his thin face as if he were underwater. A spattering of freckles dotted his nose and cheekbones and an eerie green glow of a blush lit his cheeks as a smile warmed the strangely luminescent face. He leaned a little closer to her shoulder to peer up at the monster, who had frozen against the tree line when she had stopped moving.

She closed her eyes and muttered something into his chilled hand.

"Can't understand you, come again?" The whispery voice came again. With a sly grin he moved his hands off her face, but kept them close by in case she screamed again she was sure.

Petra let out a jittery breath and took a step closer back against him. He floated backwards like he was underwater and quickly set his feet on the grassy ground when her eyes met his, maybe in attempt to make his presence more solid. She grabbed onto his arms to keep from falling over and he caught her carefully.

"Easy, just relax." He whispered down to her. His eyes fell to the ground and made double sure his feet were solidly planted. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Oh my god. You're real?" Was the first shaky thing she could get out of her mouth.

He grinned again. "Yeah I know right? Er.. I mean." His voice cracked a little as he smiled. With a quick cough, he was back to a serious expression that hardly lasted when another bubbly smile slipped through. "Yeah I am real."

"Are you here to get rid of that thing?"

"Well, you're here to see the superhero right?" His grin softened into a smile. "So, don't you move a muscle, you hear me? Stay completely still and I'll back in a flash." His fingers tightened around hers briefly before he looked up to the monster again.

His body faded from view and drifted through her. She sputtered as he half vanished and her body shivered as a painful tingling like her whole body had fallen asleep rushed over her skin. She tried to grab onto him again but ended up just holding onto her own elbows. When his semitransparent form appeared again he was standing casually in the grass before her. His body had a strange weightless quality to it, his feet almost casually didn't ever quite touch the ground and he had a quiet breathless presence. He turned back to her and gave her another glowing smile and a wink.

"Watch this." He mouthed to her. "Hey ugly!"

The monster focused its full attention on the GhostBoy with a nasty snarl.

He rolled his glowing eyes. Absentmindedly, his gloved hands slipped a thermos around his slim frame that had been hanging on a strap around his shoulders. "You get one warning, get your ass back to the Ghost Zone. Or, I'll beat you into submission and then escort you back to the Ghost Zone. Your choice." As he was speaking he pushed gently off the grass and floated up off the ground like he was doing little more than pushing up off the bottom of a swimming pool, his slim form floated up gracefully into the air.

Petra fought the urge to turn and run. Her eyes were instead drawn to his fingertips. Glowing green energy was arcing between each of his gloved fingers and lighting his whole body as if it were coming from his veins. The monster's muscles coiled up to snap at him out of the air. She was going to shout to him, he seemed almost preoccupied with the green lighting coming from his hands and his eyes were looking into a different plane of reality. Before she could make a sound, he turned in a flash of his glowing eyes and the green energy sparked out of his hands in a wave that surrounded his body. It pulsed out around him and hit the ghostly monster whose massive form coiled back into the trees. The GhostBoy's shifted and he flew towards where the monster had fallen. The ground should have been destroyed under its heavy weight but there was no change in the ground. She shielded her eyes from the bright flash and by the time she looked back up at the floating young man, the monster was gone and he was capping his glowing thermos back up with a laugh.

She was completely speechless. "Who are you."

His eyes met hers with a certain clarity that put her nerves at ease. "Don't be scared. I'm one of the good guys."

* * *

7\. "Hero".

"You shouldn't be out alone at night." The GhostBoy dropped the thermos back to his side and zipped down out of the air so he was floating on his side in front of her. "This is the most haunted city in America. It's dangerous out here when you're by yourself."

"You're the second person to say that to me today." Petra's voice was still wavering and unsure. She stared open mouthed up at the glowing young man. The green lighting was still sparking out of his fingertips and he wiggled each of his fingers to try to shake the sparks away. He turned to her and his silvery white hair floated in front of his electric green eyes as he drifted closer to her with a slow push through the air.

"Uh-huh. Did you think that maybe the first guy who said it might have known what he was talking about?" His voice had a strange echoing quality to it and the sarcasm in his voice would have made her bite back a response if she hadn't have been stunned into silence. His feet almost reluctantly touched back down to the grass and he took a few steps towards her. "What would you have ever done if I hadn't have shown up? It's a good thing I just happened to be in the area, wasn't it?" He shrugged and then crossed his arms across his chest as he came to a stop in front of her with a cheeky grin.

Petra opened her mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say. She watched as he pushed off the ground again, and floated up to look at her eyes. The glow of his eyes seemed to almost look right through her. She searched his face carefully before she snapped her mouth shut. His expression had changed and suddenly those electric eyes were looking over her face carefully. His body floated closer to hers subconsciously, and she took a half step backwards. The energy of the electric look in his eyes made her skin buzz and she let out a breath that ghosted out around their faces. The temperature was dropping with every inch he floated closer.

"You look different like this." He muttered.

"Different how?" She breathed back, confused.

The GhostBoy shook his head and his eyes lost the otherworldly glow they had had a few seconds before and returned in a rush to the present. "Nothing, sorry. I didn't mean anything." He shook his head again, trying to rid his eyes of the distant starry look in the crackling, electric green. "C'mon. Let me get you home. It's dangerous out here at night." He pointed a finger at her and kicked up off the ground again. "I know you're new around here, but you should know that at least by now. Lucky for you I guess I'm kind of a hero so I can keep you safe. But, after your home I better not here about you sneaking out, you don't leave your house at night again you understand? You have lost your outside at night privileges. As soon as the sun goes down you stay inside like your windows and doors are sealed up." He set his hands on his hips and waited for her to say something.

She still couldn't think of anything to say back to him. She had come to the graveyard to prove to herself that all these rumors were stupid and instead she was being escorted home by the same superhero she had been there to find. He left her breathless and he was being sarcastic at her and she couldn't even think of anything at all to respond with. Her eyes looked him over, lean muscle shifted underneath his jumpsuit, making everything inhuman about him suddenly a little more human. She let out a stuttering breath and shook her head with a shrug.

"You're not even gonna say anything at all?" His body was floating again, this time on his back with his hands tucked behind his head, fingers threaded through is white hair. His glowing eyes turned on her with a strange smile on his face. "You sure were talking a lot to yourself before that monster showed up. You were being sarcastic and I figured when I floated up you would just keep on talking but that big monster was probably a shocker I guess. I haven't seen you around before so-" He was rambling as if he wasn't exactly sure what to say to her.

"I'm Petra." She interrupted his quickly spoken words.

He paused, one of his hands still frozen in the middle of a gesture. "I uh.. Nice to meet you." He cleared his throat and his eyes stole a quick look at the ground.

She blinked a few times before her nerves started to relax. "Do I just call you GhostBoy? Or the websites all said Invisobill-"

He pulled a sour face and his body straightened out. His feet touched down in the grass and he shook his head all in a fluid series of gestures. "No, never call me that."

"But GhostBoy is fine?" She pressed. Talking to him was getting easier. The exchange was almost familiar somehow and she even managed a half smile.

"Wow you're sassy once you get talking, who woulda guessed." He grinned at her. He was floating again, with his legs criss-crossed in mid-air and his chin in his palm and his elbow on his knee.

"And you're still avoiding the question."

There was a long pause, as if he was deciding what exactly he wanted her to call him. He opened his mouth before he narrowed his glowing eyes. "Phantom is fine. I guess."

"Phantom?"

He turned and ran a hand through his hair. "What?"

Petra shrugged. "I prefer GhostBoy."

A laugh bubbled out of his chest that made him double over in the air. His gloved hands crossed over his stomach and his body floated until he was almost upside down. At first she didn't know how to react and then slowly she started to laugh as well. She laughed until her sides hurt and she didn't really understand why, but his laughing fueled her. When the laughter tapered off, she looked around, they had stopped walking just outside of the graveyard and she was still a long way from home.

"You got a ways to walk right?" He asked after a quick pause.

She nodded.

"Well so long as no other ghosts attack while we're walking I can be your escort." His body floated in front of her and for a moment his legs disappeared. She was getting a little used to the way his body and eyes seemed to enter and leave reality from time to time. He held out his hand for her as he half bowed and tucked one of his hands behind his back with a borderline wicked grin. The electricity sparked from his fingertips and goosebumps rolled over her skin when their hands touched. She shivered and he cringed. "Sorry, I can't really control it-" He tried to pull his hand back.

"It's fine." She held onto his fingers before he could take them back.

The GhostBoy smiled and the glowing blush lit his cheeks. "Thanks. It's uh, creepy and cold. Sorry. I mean-"

She giggled as he stuttered.

"Hey, I'm a superhero not a professional public speaker."

"Go on. You were going to offer to walk me home I think."

"If you insist." He squeezed her hand. "I'll protect you from everything that goes bump in the night. Accept me of course."

"Oh sure. I guess I accept. GhostBoy." His glowing eyes rolled again. "I can lead the way."

* * *

8\. "Grey."

They ended up sitting on the roof of the old brick house Petra's family had moved into. Or rather, she was sitting. The GhostBoy was floating. She noticed quickly that he didn't sit still, at all. His body fuzzed in and out of tangibility and his hands fidgeted away little green sparks every once in a while, but he didn't seem to notice any of it. His eyes were everywhere all at once and completely paying attention to her too. He was obviously out in order to watch for any more monsters who might be out, but here he was paying attention to her instead. She climbed on the roof almost every night through the little crawl space in the ceiling of her attic room. She invited him to meet her up there and half expected him to disappear into the night.

"I haven't had anyone up here since I moved here."

He had floated through the ceiling with a certain level of grace. When his intangible body floated near her knees her skin tingled again and he stopped his floating and grinned at her again. "Your bedroom is nice." His voice was unintentionally whispery. He cleared his throat to remedy the strange tone it had taken on. "I like what you've done with the bricks." He motioned to the old stone walls with a half shy smile.

"Thanks. I've been meaning to have people over, I guess I haven't had the courage to ask him, I mean to say them yet." She paused when he snorted. "Funny that I asked you over before I asked my friends considering we just met and you're a ghost and all.."

The snort turned into a full on laugh. "You can call me your friend if you want to. And you should ask those friends from school. I bet he's-they're.. Er.. Dying to come over and hang out at your place." Something changed in his expression and he fuzzed in and out of reality again. He looked around before turning his attention fully back to her. It was almost overwhelming to have the full attention of his eyes on her. He seemed to sense the way it was making her skin prickle and he cleared his throat and leaned back a little further, turning his gaze back to the sky. "Dying was bad word choice I guess, huh." He muttered under his breath.

"Are you dead?"

"What?" He turned to her with a strange expression on his face.

"That was rude." Petra quickly backtracked.

"Did you just ask if I was dead?"

She shook her head. "Oh my god. I am so sorry."

"You did though." He laughed and drifted down to sit beside her on the rooftop. "You straight up just asked me if I was dead?"

She covered her face with both of her hands. "That must be so rude to ask. Please don't leave. That was so dumb."

A pair of hands pulled hers away from her eyes and his glowing eyes peaked down at her. "Hey if I didn't want to be here I coulda left already. I guess I'm sorta dead." He answered slowly. "Guess I never thought about it like that."

"How did it happen?" She whispered.

His fingers tightened around her wrists minutely. "Um, I got electrocuted."

"You were?"

"It was an accident."

"Did it hurt?"

His expression changed again. "I uh.. Don't really remember. There was a buzzing and I remember the light but.. I don't remember if it hurt. I mean I guess I'm sure it did, because it knocked me out. Er, killed me." An unreadable look passed over his eyes. "I never thought about that. That must have killed me otherwise I wouldn't have all these powers and stuff. And when I woke up again I looked like this. And after the initial shock.." He paused. "I guess I should think about my word choice a little better huh. But after that, I decided I should use my powers to stop the monsters who were flooding out of the portal after the accident turned it on."

"Portal?"

"Yeah it was, yeah like a window into the Ghost Zone." When she made a face he waved her question away. "Another time. It's a lot of complicated science, I think. It's hard to explain anyway."

"Oh.. Well what did you look like before?"

"First you wouldn't talk and now you won't stop talking?" When she looked like she was about to apologize for being rude he smiled. "Dark hair and blue eyes. Just normal I guess."

"That sounds handsome." She hummed and closed her eyes trying to picture his face without the otherworldly glow. She found it was hard to picture any other face but Danny's and his pale eyes and his shockingly dark hair. She looked over to the GhostBoy, who's eyes were glued on the sky with a distant look. His profile was soft and familiar. "Uh, sorry I didn't mean to ask so many questions."

"Hey it's cool. I don't mind. I like people to know I'm more than just a pretty face." He laughed, with a wink in her direction.

"You're a little bit sarcastic aren't you." She asked "Wait did you say sort of dead? What do you mean you're only sort of dead." His words caught up with her suddenly, but she quickly added. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

"Maybe next time then?" His voice was strained.

She nodded. "I moved here from San Francisco."

"Yeah I know." He said automatically. "I mean, I know you moved here.." He was still holding her hands, which he dropped quickly. "I haven't seen you around at all. That's all I meant."

She hesitated and then laughed again. Time was lost after that. They talked all night, until the sky turned grey and the sun started to rise and she realized she had school in a couple of hours.

"Shit." He was the one who noticed the shift in the lighting. He had been floating in front of her with his legs criss-crossed again "I have.. to go. I didn't even realize how early- er late.." He grabbed her hand as she stood to quick and started to slip from the tile roof. "Got you." He caught her carefully against his chest with a soft, chilled breath against her forehead.

"We're floating." Her body was tingling and slipping in and out of visibility. She wrapped the arm he wasn't holding the hand of quickly around his almost too skinny shoulders. His arm wrapped quickly around the small of her back. "Oh my god. Don't drop me please." She closed her eyes against his chilled chest.

"Don't worry, don't worry! I've got you." His voice was quiet at her ear. He smiled as she looked up at him. They're noses were close enough for the tips to touch. He cleared his throat and nodded back towards her house. "Okay we're gonna go through the wall. Don't freak out."

"I'm already freaked out." Her body was chilled and she gripped onto his jumpsuit tighter. Her fingers spayed over his chest and she took a deep breath. "No heartbeat?"

"Well I'm dead technically." He whispered against her ear. "Just hold onto me and don't think about it." He lowered them through the wall, she had her eyes shut tight against his collarbone when he set her on the floor and phased back through her arms. She clutched at the air for him before she opened her eyes with a whine.

"Uh, I didn't mean to.. Make you float." He glanced out the window. "I gotta go."

"Hey wait." She grabbed onto his hand as he turned to flee back out through the wall, presumably. His attention was suddenly fully on her and the world came to a halt when his electric eyes met hers. "I'm.. uh.. I'm not even mad. Will I see you again? I want to see you again. Can we make that happen?"

He laughed a little and touched his forehead to hers faster than she could register it had even happened, the cool pressure was gone and he gave her hand a quick squeeze. "Sooner than you think. See you around."

The GhostBoy was gone as fast as he'd appeared, leaving Petra to try and catch at least an hour of sleep before her alarm went off for school.


	3. Chapter 3

_a/n: Is there anyone still out there? im back in OC hell for a little but ive been really busy with cosplay and stuff! oops. I have barely been writing at all lately i mean except for little things here and there. I'm sorry guys you were all so supportive right away and then I just dissappeared. well welcome back to OC hell anyway, hows everyone doing_

* * *

9\. "Questioning":

Petra was exhausted the next day at school. She had stumbled out of bed with a cup of coffee and her eyes still half closed. Her mind was buzzing with the mysterious Phantom boy. When she approached Casper High that morning, as usual Danny met her outside on the stairs and she smiled as she stopped beside him. He yawned and the circles under his eyes didn't go unnoticed.

"Long night?" He pointed at the shadowy circles under her own eyes.

She cringed and batted his hand away. "Me and my mom got in a big fight last night." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Does that happen a lot?"

"Yeah it does." She hesitated then added. "Also, I didn't listen to you. Last time I ever do that."

He sighed and rubbed at his face. "Yeah? Well for future reference, try and take everything I say as law from here on out. It's dangerous at night here. Come on."

She followed him into the hallway in the direction of his locker. They stopped and she leaned up against the cool metal close beside him before she spoke up again. "Met that superhero though."

He stopped fiddling with his locker and stole a nervous glance around the hallway. "Yeah? And how'd that go?"

"He saved me from this big snarly monster." She held up her hands like claws. "Then hung out on my roof for like three hours. It was different. He was.. different. I don't know how to describe it." She looked up into his bright eyes.

Danny half smiled. He took a long breath and turned his eyes towards the ceiling before he spoke. "Why don't you ever invite me over the sit on your roof?" She opened her mouth to bite back a snarky response but he spoke again. "Listen probably don't talk about that too much here at school." He set his hands on hers and slowly lowered them back to her sides. "Everyone's sorta obsessed with ghosts here, remember?"

"You mentioned that."

"They all kinda idolize the GhostKid it gets weird and I don't want you to get interrogated by someone trying to figure stuff out about him. There's a reason he doesn't- er.. Listen." He sighed deeply, his eyes glued to hers. "Just uh.. Don't.. I mean, just don't talk about him a lot here.. you know? Shit, this is a mess already."

"What do you mean by that?"

He gave her a strange look. "I don't.. I can't really explain it here.."

He was distressed and she couldn't quite figure it out. She narrowed her eyes briefly but then smiled. She flipped her hands over so she could catch his jittery fingers in hers. "Hey relax. I won't talk about it anymore. And you can come over to my place whenever you want Danny. Really. Just show up and you can come in and we'll hang out and watch movies or do homework, or anything. Anything if it meant hanging out with you." She made him meet her gaze. "I'd rather have you than a ghost kid any day, you know that right?"

"You mean that?" He looked up from their hands. His voice was quiet and unsure.

"Why wouldn't I?" They had ended up close enough for her to see the tiny flecks of green in his eyes that flickered in and out of view every couple of seconds. She smiled. "I never noticed your eyes had green in them. They're really nice."

"Oh, um. I guess they do. Er.. Thanks. I'd rather have you too. No. That sounded better in my head." He paused and quickly changed the subject. "You're really nonchalant about this whole ghost thing. You didn't get hurt or anything did you? Doesn't that kind of stuff scare you?" An unreadable expression passed over his face. "Ghosts or whatever." He looked back down at her fingers, still wrapped around his.

Petra shrugged, watching his face as closely as she dared. "I'm not scared of ghosts Danny. Especially when I've got a big strong boy looking out for me at night."

He laughed despite himself. "I was trying to be serious."

"So was I." She grinned and he gave her an incredulous look. "Ghosts are spooky sure, nothing I can't handle." She conceded.

He seemed satisfied with her answer. "And you're not hurt."

"No not a scratch. It was scary but I felt safe as soon as the GhostKid showed up. He made sure I got home safe and everything. He was a proper gentleman."

He puffed his inky bangs out of his face. "Yeah. Well, he is a superhero."

"Want to come over tonight?"

He coughed on whatever he had been planning to say. His eyes met hers.

"Come over tonight." Her voice got quieter. "Please."

"You really want me to?"

Her cheeks were flushed but she smiled and was about to open her mouth to say something when an arm separated her and her dark haired friend. Her hands felt empty without his sitting in them and she furrowed her brows in frustration. She glared up at the new person standing between her and Danny. His backpack fell to the floor in a clatter and one of the huge football players shoved his thin form back towards the lockers on the other side of the hallway.

"New girl!" The voice was sharp. She turned to the most popular girl in school and met her gaze with a scowl.

"We were talking." Petra said, pointing over to Danny.

"Yeah, yeah. Nerd talk, who cares. Tell me though. Who were you with, last night."

"Paulina, leave her alone-" Danny started.

"Watch it Fen-toenail." The huge football jock Dash forced Danny backwards. "Heard the GhostBoy saved you. We want to hear the story."

Suddenly Petra was surrounded by another huge jock, Kwan who always had a sympathetic look on his soft face, and a few of the other football players and cheerleaders who were all chattering about the Ghostboy. She watched Danny carefully as he rolled his pale eyes and backed up against the lockers on the other side of the hallway to wait until they were done harassing her about whatever had or hadn't happened the night before.

"You know you could hang out with us, and tell us more about him." The blonde girl, Star spoke up. She was Paulina's best friend and a blonde haired blue eyed air head. "We love him. The Ghostboy is sort of our favorite. And if he hung out with you that makes you at least cool enough to sit with us."

"Yeah the GhostBoy and I are pretty serious now, we're in love. He saves me all the time, that's why it's so shocking to hear he was hanging out with you. But!" Paulina added. "I love hearing stories about him, especially where he's being all heroic and stuff. Plus then you could get out of that group of losers. You could hang out with all of us."

Dash grinned at her. "Yeah it would be pretty cool. For all of us."

Petra stole another glance over at Danny. He was staring down the hallway distractedly. He hadn't finished getting his books out of his locker and his backpack was laying on the ground with a binder half inside it. "You know, I don't really want to talk about what happened last night." She dipped to pick up the discarded backpack. "And I think that I'm fine where I'm at. I don't need you guys to take an experience I had because I didn't listen to a friend to hang out with you. I've already got friends and they're more important to me than that."

"Oh come on sweetheart-"

"Don't call me sweetheart. I'm not your sweetheart." Petra corrected Dash quickly. She pulled Danny's math book from his locker before she pushed her way through the small crowd of jocks and returned to his side. She scowled back at them before she handed him his backpack. "C'mon. We should get going. We still have to go by my locker too before the bell rings." Their fingers brushed as she passed him his backpack. A strangely familiar tingling rolled up her arm and she met his gaze. "And you should decide what movie you want to want tonight.. When you come over. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Sweetheart." Danny muttered with a teasing smile. He bumped her shoulder playfully and she smiled up to him.

"Don't start that."

* * *

10\. "Stars.":

Danny had come over that night. He had been really unsure about it until she had insisted that she wanted him to come over more than anything else. And s had told him he should come over right after school in their last class of the day. She assured him she had been very serious about him coming over. She wanted to have him over, she wanted to sit on her roof with him and absolutely hadn't been joking at all. It was a Friday and they could watch movies as late as they wanted. Her parents were out of town for the weekend which was probably for the best, and her brother was staying with friends and she had the house to herself anyway. He had gotten embarrassed and flustered again but she quickly told him he didn't have a choice. She was already planning what they should eat and he no longer was going to pick the movie. It seemed to ease some of the nervous tension out of his shoulders.

They were standing together outside of the school. His parents were picking him up for some reason so he couldn't walk her. However she didn't need to be home anytime soon so she was sitting on the cement railings of the stairs down from the entrance of the school above where he was leaning.

"Are you really sure you want me over Petra?"

"How many times are you planning on asking me that?"

He rolled his pale eyes.

"Yes. I mean like absolutely positive. You want to sit on my roof, right?" She hopped down and looked up to him, suddenly worried she was pushing him. "Don't you want to come over?"

"Yeah of course it's just.." He watched her for a second before nodding and shrugging at the same time when they stopped beside the parking lot to wait for his ride. "Okay. Okay. I mean, you've already basically put the nails in your social coffin hanging out with me and Tucker and Sam anyway." He motioned over to the pair, who waved from the other side of the parking lot. "Not like having me over will be something you have to hide from your _other_ friends."

Petra snorted and then laughed. "Oh yes. All my other friends I want to have over."

He smiled a little easier. "You still have to meet my parents. You're ideas of me might change a little bit the first time you get an ectoblaster stuck in your face just to be sure you're not a ghost."

She laughed again. "Maybe that's the edge my life needs. Ectoblasters and ghost hunting. I already met the superhero, maybe I can convince him he wants a sidekick."

His face changed a little but his guarded smile shifted to a full on grin. "Would you make an outfit and everything?"

A horn honked before she could answer.

"Hey Danny!" A booming voice made him cringe. A man in a hazmat suit leaned out of an assault ready RV and waved over and him. "All ready to get going? Say bye to your friend! Hey wait a sec, that's not Sam or Tucker! I wasn't aware you had more than two friends!"

Danny's face flushed as a group of jocks who happened to be standing nearby started snickering. "So that's my mom and dad. I'm sure you'll meet them officially someday."

"Come on Danny. I'm glad you have more than two friends but we really have to go." A petite woman leaned around his father's huge shoulders.

Petra leaned to the side enough to peak over his shoulder. The pair were watching her carefully, so she waved hesitantly. They paused and then waved back with a pair of smiles. "They seem nice." She whispered to Danny.

"Yeah sure. Just wait for the ectoblasters." He gave an exasperated sigh. "See you in a couple of hours okay?"

She smiled. "Yeah okay. I can't wait."

With Danny gone, Petra rushed home to make sure the house was clean. Her parents were gone, her brother was gone and she collapsed on the couch once the few dishes in the sink were gone and she was changed. She wasn't sure exactly why she was nervous. Her and Danny had hung out plenty at school but there was something about having him over at her house, just the two of them, that made her jittery and nervous. She had fixed her hair and changed her clothes and couldn't sit still.

Her green eyes flickered to the clock hanging on her wall. It was four. What if he had changed his mind? What if he had decided that he didn't want to hang out with her? Her heart jumped into her throat when the doorbell rang. A little too fast, she hopped up off the couch and rushed over to the door.

"Hey sorry I'm late. I wanted to shower and then I got a little distracted." Danny's hair was still wet, but his eyes were constantly flicking over his shoulder. "Sorry. I get.. er distracted a lot."

She smiled. "Yeah I know. I mean. It's okay. I was just worried maybe you really didn't want to come over."

He slipped in through the door and rolled his pale eyes. "Oh yeah I really didn't want to hang out at all with you. Sorry actually I have to get going. I have so many other plans."

The tension eased out of the quiet living room after she started laughing and they settled into the couch to watch movies. They had decided on a theme of terrible horror movies, and after about three she was leaning up against his shoulder and his arm was draped casually around her waist. He was so warm and his laughter was hitting her lightly on the side of the neck and she had goosebumps all over her arms. The nervousness of their closeness melted away as they laughed and talked quietly and the world around them seemed to disappear into his light blue eyes. When the last movie ended, she took his hand and bounced off the couch.

"Come on." She pulled him to his feet. "I want to show you the roof. I have a little crawl space and so it's kind of tight to get up there but now that it's dark I want you to see the stars."

"I've seen the stars. I want to be an astronaut remember?" He said sarcastically.

She gave him an incredulous look. "You haven't seen them from my roof."

He smiled, then let out a long sigh. "Lead the way."

She didn't realize until she pulled the chord down to the attic that her fingers were still wrapped around his. She tried to pull it away but his hold on her hand tightened minutely before he realized what he was doing. He immediately realized what had happened and pulled his hand back with an embarrassed cough to clear his throat and break the tension.

"After you." He motioned her up the stairs.

She nodded quickly and led him up to the roof spot. After a quiet moment she motioned almost grandly to the sky and the homes around them. "So this is my roof."

Danny laughed. "I had no idea a roof could be so.. Roofy."

"Don't be sassy. Do you like it?"

"Yeah. I can almost see my house from here." He deadpanned and motioned to the huge Fenton Works sign hanging like a gigantic neon beacon on the outside of his parent's house just a block over. His bright blue eyes met hers as he smiled softly and the mask of sarcasm fell. "It's really really nice Petra. Thanks for inviting me."

"If I had known you wanted to be an astronaut I would have invited you earlier." She turned and in a quick motion she scooped his hands up into hers. "Do you know lots about constellations and stuff?"

He was unbearably close again, and his breath stuttered out in a nervous chuckle. "Sure I know plenty." His voice was almost silent.

"Can you tell me?"

"Sure if you.. Uh.. If you really want."

She smiled. Her mind was suddenly a swirl of just his eyes and his lips and every thought in her head was suddenly how much she wanted to kiss him. His eyes shifted briefly down to her lips, it was enough of an invitation for her. With another nervous breath and the rest of the world disappeared when she leaned towards him. She licked her lips and clutched his hand a little tighter.

"Wait, wait, wait-" He set a hand on her shoulder just before their noses bumped. The look in his eyes completely changed suddenly as the strange shiver made his body tense up. A puff of freezing breath fogged out from between his lips as the tremor released his body and he turned down to the street with a wild look in his eyes. His fingers covered his mouth quickly. "I have to.. I have to go. Now. I'm so sorry." He stood and half slipped on the tile roof.

Her hands caught his and she shook her head. "Did I do something wrong? I really didn't mean to. Please just pretend it didn't happen-"

"No! No, oh god no you didn't do anything wrong. I just.. Agh. I can't believe this timing just, I just have to go I can't explain it right now. I will explain-" The tremor shook his body again after he ran his shaking hands through his hair and he shook the strange look out of his eyes. "Later! I'll have to explain later."

"I don't understand." She still didn't want to mention the tremors but she was crushed.

"There's just.." He searched her face for a second before he let out a breath and touched her cheek. "Listen it's just late and I have some things to take care of. I'll make it up to you I promise but I have to go."

"Let me at least walk you out." She offered desperately.

"It'll be fine." His hands were shaking and a minute shift in his eyes made goosebumps roll over her skin. His vision seemed to fuzz, as he looked off the rooftop and all at once the strange expression was gone and he turned back to her. "I can uh.. I just gotta go. I am so sorry."

His hands were gone in a rush and Petra was alone on the roof before she could even process what was happening. Her skin was tingling and she couldn't exactly figure out why he had left in such a hurry. Danny was such a strange person sometimes. The shivers and the strange coolness his fingers always held. She couldn't put a finger on it. She set her chin on her knees and sighed. Immediately, she knew she didn't know how she was going to face him the next morning.

* * *

11\. "Silence":

School was awkward the next day, to say the very least. It was silent and Petra was trying hard to avoid the awkward 'remember when I tried to kiss you and you ran away' conversation with Danny. She had avoided him in the morning, when he had been waiting in their usual spot in front of the school she opted to go around back. She ate lunch by herself in the back corner of the library, she walked to classes alone. She didn't see him until their last period, and by then she was sure he had the message. His eyes stayed on his notes and she bit her lip, trying to ignore the miserable look on his face. The bell rang and she made a quick dip for the door.

"Petra c'mon, please." His voice was close enough that she stopped and turned.

"I don't want to talk about it, its fine." She said defensively and entirely too fast.

He gave her a surprised look. "It's not fine. I can tell it's not fine." He took a few cautious steps towards her in the hallway. She avoided his probing gaze. "You've been avoiding me all day. That's not fine. I don't like it."

"It's awkward Danny. You're right, I've been trying to avoid this all day. Because I didn't want to ruin what we had and I did it anyway." Her voice was a low whisper and she turned her full attention to him. "I just want to forget it happened and not have this conversation."

He gave her a surprised look. "No you didn't ruin anything. It's just.. Things are just different with me."

"Different how?"

His eyes fled to the ceiling and he muttered something under his breath. "It's really not.. uh.. Listen-" He was suddenly in front of her faster then he should have been and the lights in the hallway flickered around them. He flinched. "It's just complicated."

"Complicated how Danny?"

He gave her a desperate look. "I didn't know you were going to.. I would have said something. It's just a bad idea Petra."

"Okay."

"Just okay?"

Petra nodded. "I just don't want to have this conversation. I just want to forget it happened. It won't happen again. I didn't know it was complicated I thought I read the mood, and I guess I didn't." She paused. "And I'm really sorry for avoiding you today. And I'm sorry for trying to kiss you and touching your hands alot. I won't do any of it again. Just drop it. Pretend it didn't happen and it'll all go away." She took a step away from him.

A desperate look crossed his eyes. "That's not what I meant."

"Why did you run away then? I would have kissed you, you know? I wanted to kiss you."

"Yeah I know that. It's just complicated. With me. I'm not.. I can't.. There's something that.. No. None of that's right." He dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. A shaking breath slipped out of his lips and his eyes reopened. "You're not scared of ghosts are you?" He took her hand and met her gaze with a look of clarity in his eyes that had been lacking all day.

"What a strange thing to ask right now."

He was close again. His fingers threaded between hers, discreetly against the lockers hey had stopped beside and behind his leg. Her heart fluttered and she looked up at him. "Things are just different. Er.. when I'm around." He looked out into the hallway worriedly. Students were still swarming around but no one seemed to be paying attention to them. "Just give me some time. I've never had to explain it before. But I promise. Everything's fine. You're fine, you haven't done anything wrong and I don't want to spend another day not talking to you. Okay?" His hand was gone from hers as fast as it had appeared there and he took a few steps backwards. "It's me that's not fine."

She was breathless under his pale blue gaze. She couldn't move, or breathe. He blinked the intense look away and she felt her muscles loosen up.

"I'm sorry."

"Okay."

"Just okay?" He joked, but it sounded more like a cautious question.

She smiled. "More than okay."

"Sam and Tucker are coming over to do homework at my place tonight. You should come." His voice was still airy and breathless.

"I can't tonight."

He looked crestfallen.

"Family stuff. My mom and me don't get along and we're having a family dinner. I won't be able to leave the house once I go home."

"Hey it's fine. Come over next time, we do it all the time." He let out a breath but the hopeful look was gone from his eyes as fast as it had appeared. "Are you sure you're okay? I'm just so sorry this can't be normal. I wish I had a better explanation for you."

Petra shrugged. "I guess you wouldn't be worth it if it was just normal right?"

His face flushed and he tried to mask the anxious look by throwing a distracted look at the lockers across the hallway. "You might think differently if you knew everything."

"Are we still going to get lunch at the Nasty Burger?" Petra tried awkwardly.

"Yeah!" Danny took a half step backwards from her. "I mean yes. Yeah we're going right now. If you want to go you're totally invited. Yeah you're still invited I mean."

"Yeah."

Things fell into a tense silence as each of them tried to ignore the awkward conversation they had had. Petra crossed her arms tightly across her chest and Danny let out a long shaky sigh as walked together through the halls. She couldn't help but feel like something had been broken and it was her fault. Danny was picking at his fingernails anxiously and chewing on the inside of his lip and she felt her face burning with embarrassment.

* * *

12\. "Food":

The trip to Nasty Burger was as awkward as the conversation in the hallway had been. She couldn't quite bring herself to enjoy even just the milkshake and fries she had gotten. She hadn't been feeling that hungry but kind of desperately wanted to pretend nothing awkward had happened between her and Danny and was hoping that ignoring it all to get fast food would do the trick. It absolutely hadn't and she felt more tense and uncomfortable than she ever had. Tucker was arguing with Sam about something and she was trying to listen but it was like listening to voices through a closed window. She stole a glance up across the table.

Danny's eyes were watching the window, as usual. The dark circles under his bright eyes were even darker than they had been earlier The same flighty distant expression that he usually had when the strange shivers made his shoulders rigid had settled on his face, and a worried crease sat between his dark eyebrows. His thin fingers were fidgeting with his french fries and he was chewing on his lip. For once he wasn't sitting next to her. Instead he was sitting alone on the bench at the other side of the table and she was sitting next to Tucker and Sam.

"Listen, all I'm saying is that if all you're going to eat is tomatoes then you're never going to have the energy to do anything!" Tucker was saying, waving his burger around to emphasize his point to Sam. He took a big bite and ketchup dribbled down his chin. "You need protein." He said around the meat in his mouth.

She rolled her purple eyes and stabbed her fork down into her salad. "I have all the energy I need, thank you very much. There are plenty of ways to get protein without murdering innocent animals. Beans and tofu. You've heard of those right?"

Tucker snorted. "Beans are something you put on chille dogs Sam."

She gestured across the table to Danny. "You should be worried about me. I'm just fine. You should be worried about him. He's the one who hasn't slept since like this time last week."

Danny laughed, despite himself. It was ugly and humorless but it pulled his distant gaze away from the window for a second even and his eyes refocused on the present. Whatever he had been thinking about left a strange shadow on his face but the half smile masked it. "Yeah, but that's usual stuff right? Me not sleeping. Don't use that as comparison for health."

Sam and Tucker managed a laugh as he cringed a little. They started to argue again.

Petra looked up too from the fry she had been dipping in her shake for at least two minutes. He was trying hard to pretend none of it had ever happened and he was partly succeeding. She was trying too. A sigh slipped past her lips before she felt something touch her foot under the table. She jumped before she realized the toe of Danny's worn out red converse was touching hers, gingerly as Tucker and Sam continued to argue. She gave him a pleading look, it was so awkward at the table. But the weight of his toe on hers was something. She still wanted to run.

"Don't worry." He mouthed quickly, almost quicker than she could register it had happened. He sighed. "Everything's fine." He whispered more to himself than anything. His pale eyes found the window again and the strange distant expression settled back over his features.

The uneasy tightness eased out of her chest a little. She tapped his toes with hers again, urging him to talk to her, to engage so she knew everything was okay. Tucker and Sam's argument had ended in a huff and Tucker biting an entire burger in half. Danny said nothing.

"Fen-Turd and friends!" Dash's loud voice made them all turn. He slammed his hand on the table causing Tucker's soda to spill on the floor. Paulina, Starr and Kwan gathered around behind him. "I think it's time to break this little party up because you and your little nerd herd are in the best seat in the house."

In a shudder, Danny's fingers tightened around the cup and he turned to glare up at the jock. "Okay yeah sure as soon as we're done eating, you and your friends can use the table." He said smoothly.

"Yeah get lost meathead." Sam turned her eyes back to her salad.

Dash glared down at them before he turned to Danny and knocked tray full of fries onto his lap. Paulina and Starr laughed and high fived as Kwan looked on with what looked like worry. Before he could say anything else Petra stood up and clenched her hands into fists.

"Leave him alone." She said quickly.

Danny gave her a surprised look

"Or what weirdo." Paulina stepped forward next and poked her hard in the shoulder.

"Yeah you're the new kid." Starr was next. "You don't know how weird his family is so we won't hold this against you."

Petra took a breath. "I didn't ask you to tell me about his family, I told you to leave him alone. Leave all of us alone. When we're finished eating you and your shallow friends can have this table but until then, I think we're gonna need some napkins to clean his pants up don't you?"

Starr's mouth dropped open and Sam smiled broadly.

"Yeah get lost." She said through her teeth.

Danny looked like he was about to say something when his shoulders tensed and he turned quickly to the window again. A scream from outside rattled the glass and Dash and his friends turned to the noise.

"Not right now." Danny muttered and stood from his side of the table.

"Ghost?" Tucker muttered, slipping his PDA into his pocket.

"Please tell me you have some of your family's weird weapons." Kwan grabbed Danny's arm and pulled him from the booth and out in front of his body.

"Oh sure always." He shook Kwan off of him.

Sam and Tucker grabbed their bags off the floor and exchanged glances with Paulina and Starr. Some kind of unspoken truce Petra thought to herself.

"What is going on!" Petra gave a frustrated groan as another scream shook the room. She clenched her eyes shut and covered her ears.

"Look at me." Danny grabbed her arm and made her focus on his eyes. "Remember I told you that this is the most haunted place in America? Ghost attacks happen all the time and I need you to run."

"Run where exactly?"

"What are you crazy? Out of here!" Paulina and Starr rushed out of the Nasty Burger as a glowing woman appeared in the parking lot outside the restaurant.

"Good luck losers." Dash and Kwan followed close behind the others in a crowd of people rushing to escape the fast food restaurant.

Her glowing eyes fell on Danny through the window and she screamed again. Petra took a half step into his chest and covered her ears.

"She's looking at you."

"Yeah I noticed." He took a half step away from her.

In a rush, the Nasty Burger emptied out. Petra tried to hold onto Danny as everyone grew frantic but he met her gaze and with an apologetic smile, disappeared into the frantic crowd.

"No come back." She tried to grab his arm but in the rush of people around them he was gone and another hand grabbed onto her. "Are you serious."

"Come on we gotta hide!" Tucker grabbed her wrist and gave it a sharp tug. "This way! Away from the windows"

"What about Danny?" She demanded as he pulled her towards the back of the restaurant. They slid behind a toppled table. "He got separated and-"

"And is fine trust me his family does this for a living. He probably had something on him and is trying to help. He always has something tucked in his backpack this kind of stuff happens all the time." Tucker shoved a glowing thermos into her shaking hands. "Point this at the ghost if it comes towards you and push this button, got it?"

She gave him and incredulous look. "No! No I don't _got it_! Where is Danny!"

"Tuck now!" Sam was suddenly beside them.

"Stay away from the windows, don't go outside and remember what I said. Be back in a flash." Tucker set his hands on her shoulders briefly before he was gone after Sam and into the chaos that was unfolding outside.

Petra sat still for a minute, clutching the glowing thermos in her shaking hands. The ghost she had seen the week before had to have been a one off. She was kidding herself if she had believed the Ghostkid when he said ghost attacks happened all the time. He had to be joking. A shriek from outside rattled the windows and scattered chairs of the Nasty Burger, reminding her of the glowing woman in the parking lot. "Okay, okay, okay." She whispered to herself.

After a shudder she steeled herself and stood. If Danny was in trouble she could try to help with the thermos Tucker had shoved into her hands. He was more important than anything. She turned to the window just as it cracked and a body flew through the air and into her chest effectively knocking her to the ground. They rolled a ways until she was laying on top of his chest, their legs tangled together and her nose hovering over his. She caught the breath that had been knocked out of her.

"Phantom?"

"Funny running into you here?" The Ghostkid was so close his eyes lit her face with neon green electricity and a grin lit his face with a light green.

Her fingers curled into his jumpsuit. "Please tell me what is going on? No one is telling me anything."

He grinned. "Yeah sure, I would love to do that but you gotta hang on a sec." His fingers tightened around her arms and with a shiver she felt her body lift up as he kicked his heels off the ground.


End file.
